Better with Age: A support service for senior men now at LRCA

Better with Age, a counselling support for senior men, is now being offered by the volunteer counselling program at Ladysmith Resources Centre Asssociation (LRCA).

Aging can be an interesting and rewarding experience. However, sometimes, seniors (60+) run into difficult and stressful situations. These situations can be challenging to navigate and can result in feeling anxious and discouraged. Many senior men find it difficult to seek support or counselling for issues like grief, loss, isolation and low mood and tend to “suffer in silence”.

Better with Age focuses on supporting senior men to use their strengths, wisdom and life experience to deal with difficult situations in their lives. Support and counselling provide senior men with strategies they can use to deal with challenges. This can result in feeling more hopeful, uplifted, and connected to others and having a better quality of life.

The Better with Age facilitator is Pieter Steyn, MSW, PhD. He is a retired educator, researcher, and mental health practitioner with more than 40 years experience in the field. Pieter specialises in gerontology (study of aging) and specifically the mental health of seniors. Pieter says:” As a senior male myself, I have personally developed a deeper understanding of not only the challenges faced by senior men, but also our strengths and the contributions we can still make to society.”

This service is grounded in a strengths perspective and recognizes that senior men have strengths, abilities and resources. This perspective focusses on resilience and courage to deal with difficult situations.

Better with Age consists of short-term individual counselling and small group support. Pieter Steyn invites interested senior men to meet with him for a few individual sessions to discuss their interest   in counselling and the option to join the support group.

Contact Pieter at the LRCA: Phone: 250 245 3079 (leave a message) or e-mail: pieter@lrca.ca